--- title: "Resident Evil: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/resident-evil-2002/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/resident-evil-2002" critics_score: 51 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Resident Evil (2002): what the critics said Critics' score 51 from 13 reviews: 3 positive, 6 mixed, 4 negative. The critics split evenly, and few of them argue the film is anything more than a brisk, gory B-picture. What praise there is gathers around Milla Jovovich, whose Alice most reviews single out as a capable action lead, with Michelle Rodriguez close behind. The set pieces draw the warmest notices: the laser corridor sequence is mentioned more than any other scene, and several critics credit the production design and score for giving the underground facility atmosphere. The reservations cluster on originality. Many critics call the plot a retread of Dawn of the Dead and Alien, the dialogue thin and the horror not frightening, with several noting it fails to reproduce the dread of the game. The spread is wide, from outright dismissal to enthusiastic defence. Empire and The AV Club are the harshest, finding the plotting incoherent and the tone humourless; Collider, writing later, is the most generous, treating it as a survival film that stands on its own. ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2002. The film stays true to its video game roots with a fast-paced, schlocky zombie outbreak plot in an underground facility. It singles out Milla Jovovich's Alice for praise as a fierce action heroine alongside cool set pieces like the Red Queen computer. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/resident-evil/) ## Los Angeles Times — Jan Stuart Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2002. Stuart describes the film as mindless, dizzying B-movie fun with graphic gore, high-energy action, and camp appeal, highlighting the stylish violence and strong turns from Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-mar-15-et-stuart15-story.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 52/100 (inferred from the text). 12 March 2002. The film is strictly for fans of the games, as broader audiences will find it lacking in coherent drama, characterisation and truly exciting action. It praises some nice design touches and the moody score. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/resident-evil/408610.article) ## Variety — Scott Foundas Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2002. Foundas calls the adaptation a malnourished zombie retread that prioritizes kinetic action and visual effects over substance or social context, though he notes some effective prosthetic work and praises Milla Jovovich's athletic performance. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2002/more/reviews/resident-evil-1200550909/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2002. Ebert sees the film as a derivative, high-tech zombie movie that borrows heavily from Dawn of the Dead and Ghosts of Mars without adding much substance, filled with silly sound effects, thin dialogue, and predictable action set pieces. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/resident-evil-2002) ## Time Out — DA Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The film version regrettably fails to emulate the terror of the original game; it looks good but is not scary, and the rest is a derivative, tedious mess. It singles out the production team's set designs and one imaginative death-by-laser sequence for praise. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/resident-evil) ## Empire — William Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds the film not terribly good, with incoherent plotting and action scenes, lacking the game's spooky atmosphere, and featuring bad acting and gratuitous elements. Game and zombie fans will be disappointed. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/resident-evil-review/) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 2002. The video game adaptation is a grim, humorless exercise in clichés cribbed from Romero and Alien, lacking originality or fun. It singles out the film's derivative elements and overall dullness for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/resident-evil-1798196269) ## Collider — Rachael Blair Severino Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2025. The 2002 film is a thrilling, fast-paced survivalist zombie movie that stands on its own while respecting the games' spirit. It singles out Michelle Rodriguez's gritty, emotionally resonant performance as Rain for praise amid the horror and action. [Read the review](https://collider.com/michelle-rodriguez-resident-evil-performance) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2002. The critic notes that the film keeps tension high despite a familiar disaster-movie setup involving a genetic virus and mutations at Umbrella Corp. Milla Jovovich stands out for her performance as an amnesiac character, though the story eventually falls into standard horror clichés with vampires and monsters. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/resident-evil-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Paste — Turner Minton Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2021. Anderson borrows horror tropes for an enclosed-space monster fight but relies on predictable jump scares and incompetent protagonists. It singles out the inventive, gory laser-dodging sequence (later echoed in Resident Evil 4) as the standout that makes the film worth watching. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/resident-evil/every-resident-evil-movie-ranked) ## Digital Spy — Ben Lee Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 17 September 2014. The review finds the film a tolerable video game adaptation that delivers slick, violent set pieces and an engaging lead performance despite being generic, unimaginative, and inconsistent as horror. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a595758/games-on-film-resident-evil/) ## Den of Geek — Rosie Fletcher, David Crow Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2022. The piece debates the film's merits as a fun, gory horror sci-fi with strong set pieces and an iconic lead in Milla Jovovich, versus a derivative and mediocre knockoff of better movies like Aliens that wastes the source material's potential. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/resident-evil-at-20-good-or-bad/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/resident-evil-2002.md